Professor Janet Davies has been awarded a $3,035,320 NHMRC Investigator Grant for the five-year research project, “Driving targeted solutions for allergic respiratory disease management”.
Professor Davies, from QUT’s Centre for Immunology and Infection Control in the School of Biomedical Sciences, said one in four Australians were affected by allergic rhinitis which represents a 1.5 times increase since 2001.
“With allergic rhinitis (AR) occurring alongside other allergies, sinusitis, sleep apnoea and asthma, AR poses a significant burden on the health system,” Professor Davies said.
“Most sufferers do not receive medical care for AR which leaves them vulnerable to asthma.
“My previous NHMRC AusPollen Partnership research found that daily pollen forecasts designed to enable patients to avoid allergens were useful and made patients feel safer, but the information was not sufficient to alter behaviour nor reduce AR symptoms.
“This patient-centred project aims to cost effectively implement an overarching national digital “Polly-Air” trial of symptom and medication trackers, as a framework to address: barriers to accessing care; intrinsic and extrinsic susceptibility factors; as well as molecular mechanisms of pollen-induced airway inflammation.”
Professor Davies said the project would include surveys of out-of-pocket costs of managing AR here in Australia through collaboration with the AR Impact on Asthma (ARIA) consortium.
“We will compare a validated symptom and medication tracker with a dynamic new AI-driven tools developed and tested here, with potential for global uptake,” she said.
“Our research findings will inform policies for more equitable access to medical care, tools for self-management of AR symptoms, and sustained environmental health monitoring of pollen exposure.”
Professor Davies’ research team comprises Dr Saeideh Hajighasemi, Dr Karolina Bednarska, with collaborators Associate Professor Hannah Carter, and Professor Gene Tyson, from QUT; and Professor Jean Bousquet from ARIA. Four PhD researchers will be enrolled and supported by the research team.
(Image, left: Professor Janet Davies; inset, clockwise from top left: Associate Professor Hannah Carter, Dr Karoline Bednarska, Dr Saeideh Hajighasemi, Professor Gene Tyson.)
